lost all fish:(

[bro2]

Well I have had a 29 gallon running for about 3 months now. Regular testing every week and 10% water change every week. Yesterday fish were doing great, feeding @8AM and about 10 AM did a water change. Had been gone most of the day get back at around 8 PM my 3 damsels,Green chromis,3 stripe and blue were on the bottom just sitting in the corners. Check water parameters PH 7.8, Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 40 ppm, Salinity 1.023. It is FOWLR tank. I do not know what happened. All three gone late last night. My Nitrate is high. It was slowly coming down with my water changes and I had cut back on the food. (Thought I would be overfeeding). I guess start over is in order. Have a 54 gallon bow front corner tank in my garage going through a leak test. What did I do wrong?

[Crooked Reef]

Nitrates of 40ppm would not have done this. Where did you water change water come from? If you made it are you sure you dechlorinated it?

[toothybugs]

IMHO something was in your water change that knocked 'em out. What is your water source and how are you treating it prior to making saltwater?

[julie180]

imho something was in your water change that knocked 'em out. What is your water source and how are you treating it prior to making saltwater?

+1

[Salt Kreep]

Do you store and mix your water in food grade containers?

[Cymonous]

I agree on the need for info about your water change water source.

[bro2]

I have a RO/DI system and I mix my water in a 5 gallon bucket that we use at work as coolers for drinking water. mix the salt and have a small pump that mixes and keeps it moving and a heater. temp stays @ usually 77.9.

[ThisGuy12]

I have a RO/DI system and I mix my water in a 5 gallon bucket that we use at work as coolers for drinking water. mix the salt and have a small pump that mixes and keeps it moving and a heater. temp stays @ usually 77.9.This could be your problem, did you clean the bucket out before mixing? Are there any other users of the buckets?

[pscott99]

I have a RO/DI system and I mix my water in a 5 gallon bucket that we use at work as coolers for drinking water. mix the salt and have a small pump that mixes and keeps it moving and a heater. temp stays @ usually 77.9.

Do you use a refractometer ? If not verify your salt content with lfs. Could something else have gotten in the tank water ?

[Cymonous]

I have a RO/DI system and I mix my water in a 5 gallon bucket that we use at work as coolers for drinking water. mix the salt and have a small pump that mixes and keeps it moving and a heater. temp stays @ usually 77.9.

How long do you allow the salt to mix for?

[bro2]

The buckets are used only for my mix water, salinity was @ 1.025. The salt mix may have been the culprit it is about 2 years old.

[Sk8r]

I rather suspect oxygenation problems in combo with something else---warming might do it, as it makes water less able to carry oxy. Damsels fare best in a 100 gallon tank. Even in your 55, you may have aggression troubles with those 3 together, though you will have room for more fish like blennies and gobies. As weather warms, so does the ambient in the house rise, and that in itself can cause troubles if a situation has been balanced on the edge. You are absolutely correct, however, to have only one of a kind in a small tank: that makes a big difference in aggression. Do check that oxygenation angle: a FOWLR may need a pretty potent skimmer to put a lot of oxygen into the water.

[ThisGuy12]

I rather suspect oxygenation problems in combo with something else---warming might do it, as it makes water less able to carry oxy. Damsels fare best in a 100 gallon tank. Even in your 55, you may have aggression troubles with those 3 together, though you will have room for more fish like blennies and gobies. As weather warms, so does the ambient in the house rise, and that in itself can cause troubles if a situation has been balanced on the edge. You are absolutely correct, however, to have only one of a kind in a small tank: that makes a big difference in aggression. Do check that oxygenation angle: a FOWLR may need a pretty potent skimmer to put a lot of oxygen into the water.Are you suggesting microbubbles may actually be good for fish, say it isn't so :D I have some in my tank despite my best efforts to get rid of them. The fish and corals are thriving thus far :)

OP do you heat the mixed water and make sure all the salt is absorbed into the water before adding it to the tank? The deaths could be the result of a fatal temp / salt shock.

[bro2]

Yes the temp is 77.9 in the salt mix. Mix sets in the 5 gallon bucket with pump a couple of days before water change. It should have enough time to absorb the mix. Always check salinity before change. Just went to the LFS and purchased some fresh salt. Instant Ocean. Start over:(

[Calappidae]

How long has your ph been at 7.8? A proper range is between 8.2-8.4.. preferably 8.4. If it was steady at 7.8 this might have been a long term issue from the start.

However damsels are very hardy.. it'd take some serious skill to kill them. I'm agreeing on contamination. Even if you stick your finger in their water after touching alcohol, using hand sanitizer, or even touching a surface you cleaned with it you can nuke a tank. Waxing floors near a tank I've heard is an issue.. as well as air fresheners.

[bro2]

PH had been running in the 8- 8.2 range. Just this week dropped to 7.8.

[Sk8r]

I don't worry about microbubbles: it's an issue that usually works itself out as equipment matures. I don't think I have many get upstairs into the DT, but if they did, or do for a bit, I've just never stressed over it; and I'm sure I have plenty in my fuge, between the venturi skimmer and its pump, two pumps (one npx, one phosban) and a downfall of 15 feet (basement sump). Perhaps some fish and some corals react negatively, but I've had no problem growing sps or lps, and none of my blenny-damsel types seem to mind. OTOH, perhaps I've never really met a serious microbubble problem. If you do have them a lot in your DT, I'd look to modification of the sump via baffles to see if that can't be stopped.

[Calappidae]

I really don't know how too many microbubble affect fish.. you have corals that are flat out exposed to air on tides which is basicly no different than micro bubbles covering it.

If anybody saw my tank in the morning when it need top-off water added you'd think a 1000 gallon skimmer broke in the main DT..

[Flyguysc]

That sucks Bro ,sorry for your loss. What type of work do you do?

[crock921]

sorry for your loss. great read though.

I didnt realize water temps need to be matched during a water change.

Do you throw a heater in with the water and the pump over night?

[clownfish06]

The buckets are used only for my mix water, salinity was @ 1.025. The salt mix may have been the culprit it is about 2 years old.

Does salt mix go bad?

[JonV88]

sorry for your loss. great read though.

I didnt realize water temps need to be matched during a water change.

Do you throw a heater in with the water and the pump over night?


Same here I've just simply used room temp water for my water changes

[jgalen0025]

Are you sure ur salinity was at 1.025? If you use a hydrometer instead of a refrac that most def could be your problem

[Cloudburst2000]

My guess like Sk8r is that it is an oxygenation issue or else you got a contaminant in your water. Did anyone spray anything or use any types of cleaners around the tank or the bucket you use for water changes? My sister crashed by brother-in-law's tank once because she used a bucket in the laundry room for mop water. Turns out it was his water change bucket and the tank crashed when he used it again when doing a water change. Now, he clearly marks all his aquarium equipment and segregates it from the rest of the house.

[bro2]

Yes checked with 2 meters .

[bro2]

Could have got something in the mix bucket. Mix station is in the laundry room. I will be moving it tomorrow. Just a precaution.

[pufferpoison]

I would guess a contaminate. Something like temp being off in a 5 gallon bucket isn't going to wipe your tank out.

I bought a tank a few months ago from a guy 1 1/2 hours away. He had some snails and a panther grouper that was very small. He kept it in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid that rode in the back of the truck on the way home. I didn't realize how cold it got from the time I picked everything up until I got home. He was so cold, that I literally scooped him up with my hands cupped and he didn't even move. The water felt like ice cold water from the fridge. I would have guessed that he would have never made it. I put him in a 20 gallon container and added a heater to slowly warm him up. You could reach down and touch the guy and he would just sit there.

Next day he was swimming around and 2 months later is still at the fish store.

So yeah, probably not cold water (especially that size).

[bro2]

Flyguysc:Work@ Union Pacific Kansas City on the engines electronics.

[JonV88]

My wife once sprayed on her perfume near a bucket where I was mixing salt I didn't see her but smelt perfume decide to check perameters In wAter to be safe and had ammonia had to dump my bucket super rinse it and tried again rechecking parameters after mixing do thankful I realized it